By REDintern Tay Jun Wen

Soh Rui Yong, from the National University of Singapore came in 1st for the Men's Open Category came in at

Soh Rui Yong (#111), from the National University of Singapore came in 1st for the Men’s Open Category in 16:10. (Photo 1 © Joseph Lee/Red Sports)

 

Bedok Reservoir, Saturday, January 19, 2013 – Soh Rui Yong of the National University of Singapore (NUS) defended his individual Open category title at the 62nd Singapore Athletic Association (SAA) Cross Country Championships. The 21-year-old finished the 5km course in a course personal best of 16 minutes 10 seconds.

In second place was T. Haarishankar (#135) of Swift Athletes Association, with a timing of 16:36. His Swift teammate, Karthic Harish (#133), crossed the finishing line shortly after in third, clocking 16:49.

Swift Team B won the team title with NUS Team 1 second, their best-ever finish at these championships. Police Sport Association Team A were third.

The race was a tight one with Rui Yong leading the pack from the start to end with Harrishankar sticking close to Rui Yong.

“Harrishankar’s one stride was equivalent to one and a half of my stride,” said Rui Yong.

Rui Yong’s 2012 timing was just a second slower, and he felt he could have done better.

Having just returned from a hiatus, Rui Yong said: “I wanted to use this race as a test of my fitness.”

The NUS team will be taking part in this weekend’s Institute-Varsity-Polytechnic (IVP) Track and Field Championships.

Open Category Results (Top 10)
1st Soh Rui Yong (#111, National University of Singapore) — 16:10
2nd T. Haarishankar (#135, Swift Athletes Association) — 16:36
3rd Karthic Harish (#133, Swift Athletes Association) — 16:49
4th Umesh Rai (#122, Police Sport Association, GC) — 16:55
5th Suresh Gurung (#126, Police Sport Association, GC) — 16:56
6th Mark Callon (#105, MR25) — 17:03
7th Muhammad Shah Feroz (#134, Swift Athletes Association) — 17:14
8th Tan Lui Ran (#136, Swift Athletes Association) — 17:16
9th Ruben Galen Demetrius (#103, Fabian William Coaching Concepts) — 17:19
10th Jagat Bahadur Magar (#120, Police Sport Association, GC) — 17:19

Open Team Category (Top 3)
1st (Swift Team B) — 12 points
T. Harrishankar (2nd), Karthic Harish (3rd), Muhammad Shah Feroz (7th)

2nd (NUS Team 1) — 24 points
Soh Rui Yong (1st), Adriel Tay (11th), Su Yen Bing (12th)

3rd (PSA, GC Team A)
Umesh Rai (4th), Jagat Bahadur Magar (10th), Hangpal Angbuhang (13th)

2013 62 SAA Cross Country Championships — Full Results